What's Washington got to do with it?

The Democrats ranted and raved in Congress today about purported irregularities in Ohio during the presidential election.

Their written report wandered off the subject and included a mention of Washington’s gubernatorial election.

The report, dated January 5, 2005, was titled “Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio; Status Report of the House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff.”

It included this fair and balanced description of Washington’s gubernatorial election on page 9:

Second, as events have unfolded in Ohio, telling events have taken place within the United States, in the State of Washington, and across the globe, in the Ukraine. In Washington State, after the Republican Gubernatorial Candidate, Dino Rossi, declared victory after a partial recount,[n. 11] it was later found – after a full and fair recount – that the Democratic candidate, Christine Gregoire, was the victor.[n. 12] While national and state Republican leaders in Ohio have derided attempts to ascertain the Ohio Presidential election result and resolve the questions described herein, after the Washington recount, Mr. Rossi has now asked for a re-vote in the State of Washington, saying it is needed for the election to be “legitimate.”[n. 13] [Emphasis added.]

11—Chris McGann and Angela Galloway, Recount Gives Rossi a 42-vote Victory, SEATTLE POST INTELLIGENCER, Nov. 25, 2004.
12—County Recount Gives Win to Democrat, at
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/12/23/ wash.gov/index.html (Dec. 23, 2004).
13—David Ammons, It’s Governor-Elect Gregoire, but Rossi seeks “do-over”, ASSOC. PRESS, Dec. 29, 2004.

The first recount is called a “partial recount.” Yet, it was a count of all known votes. (Was the initial vote count, then, a “partial count?”)

The Democrats omit the fact that Rossi was officially the governor-elect once the mandatory recount was certified by the Secretary of State. Their report states only that Rossi “declared victory.”

Note how the second recount is called “full and fair,” as though the first and second counts of all known votes were not “full and fair.”

The Democrats’ report states that Gregoire “was the victor” after the second recount, rather than simply “declared victory.” Yet, if a successful contest of the election after the so-called “full and fair” second recount occurs, Gregoire will not be the governor-elect. Why not say that she, too, “declared victory?”

Finally, note how irrelevant this entire description of the gubernatorial election is. It has absolutely nothing to do with the purported irregularities in Ohio. The fact that invalidating the Washington gubernatorial election and conducting another election may be the right thing to do (as Rossi has asserted) doesn’t even tend to prove anything about the presidential election.

It’s no wonder that election irregularities occur so often in areas controlled by Democrats. They can’t think straight. (But, it does give them something to complain about when they lose. Perhaps we should be glad they are preoccupied with such things, since it keeps them from doing real harm.)